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Occasionally, infections among rodents increase dramatically, causing an outbreak, or epizootic. During plague epizootics, many rodents die, causing hungry fleas to seek other sources of blood. Studies suggest that epizootics in the southwestern U.S. are more likely during cooler summers that follow wet winters.

Humans and domestic animals that are bitten by fleas from dead animals are at risk for contracting plague, especially during an epizootic. Cats usually become very ill from plague and can directly infect humans when they cough infectious droplets into the air. Dogs are less likely to be ill, but they can still bring plague-infected fleas into the home. In addition to flea bites, people can be exposed while handling skins or flesh of infected animals.

"Measured in terms of morbidity and mortality, plague has never been a major public health problem in the United States, but, in terms of latent danger and the total cost of suppressive measures during the past 50 years, it cannot be placed in a mino...

We summarize the characteristics of 1,006 cases of human plague occurring in the United States over 113 years, beginning with the first documented case in 1900. Three distinct eras can be identified on the basis of the frequency, nature, and geograph...

In September 1994, in response to a reported epidemic of plague in India, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enhanced surveillance in the United States for imported pneumonic plague. Plague information materials were rapidly develop...